exist
verb (used without object)
to have actual being; be.
had been existing
-
past perfect progressiveof exist.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Police did not offer information on whether there had been existing investigations into those cases.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2023
These extraordinary gifts came just in time, Zollar says, because her company had been existing “hand to mouth.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 2021
And Herman Weckler, up-from-the-ranks vice president & general manager of Chrysler & De Soto Corp., testified that labor espionage had been existing for years.
From Time Magazine Archive
She was feeling something and she would be remembering that feeling had been existing.
From Matisse Picasso and Gertrude Stein With Two Shorter Stories by Gertrude Stein
Families were reunited, and people who had been existing miserably in all sorts of hiding-places, came out of their seclusion.
From When a Cobbler Ruled a King by Augusta Huiell Seaman
